Illamasqua Paranormal Collection

It's Friday!! Looking forward to the weekend? My boyfriend and I are throwing a rooftop BBQ party tomorrow as a housewarming for our Penthouse. Got the kegs of beer ordered, and right now I've got about 6kg of potatoes boiling away for a potato salad. Slaving away over a hot stove in the summer, oh dear...

Anyway, I thought I'd get a break from the party preparations by showing you some pieces of the new Illamasqua Paranormal collection that is out now. You can view the entire collection and some instructional videos on the Illamasqua website - here.

First up the Paranormal Palette (Price: £34)

Illamasqua describes this as "A unique water-resistant eyeshadow that can't decide if it's a cream or a shadow. Instead it combines the best of both worlds, delivering the textured silky appearance of a powder, but with the deep color wash of a cream."

I played around with this briefly and I'd say that description is pretty accurate. At first I couldn't tell if it was a cream or a powder eyeshadow and it's a very unique texture, one I personally haven't seen before. The pigmentation is nice, but I haven't actually worn this on my eyes yet so I can't make any claims on its longevity, creasing, smudging, fading and the like. I'm really keen to try this out because I think it's pretty neat! The colors are also really bold and fun for summer.



Illamasqua Gleam in Supernatural (Price: £18)

This is a cream product that can be used for bronzing, blushing, and maybe even highlighting on darker skin tones. It has a pearlescent finish that can really give you that beautiful glowing, dewy finish on your cheeks. For me personally, this shade is pretty intense - maybe a bit too dark for fair skin tones, but I can imagine this to look really beautiful on darker or very tanned skin. Since I don't do much tanning (just say no to future wrinkles) I don't know how much use I will personally get out of it, but the product itself is nice.




Illamasqua Lipsticks in Posture (L) and Esp (R) (Price: £16.50)

When I saw the lipstick Esp (pictured on the right) I was so excited: Intense, vivid Purple!! Egad!!! Both lipsticks have a matte finish. Esp seemed right up my alley, Posture - however - makes me look zombie-fied, or like a corpse. Super unflattering on fair skin, in my opinion at least.

Also, both lipsticks have an extremely dry, sort of chalky texture. It's really hard to get an even, smooth color payoff because they don't glide on very well at all. Posture just looked quite strange on me overall, and Esp was hard to work with. I might put up with it anyway because the color is so unique. I think it's probably really difficult to make a lipstick out of purple pigment, because pretty much every purple lipstick I own or have tried has some kind of issues. Either the color is patchy, or doesn't spread evenly.

Swatches of Esp, Posture and Gleam in Supernatural.

Precision Gel Liner in Infinity (Price: £18) and Hydra Veil (Price: £27)

First up, the gel liner I haven't tried yet so I can't make statements about it. It's a black gel eyeliner.

The Hydra Veil is another unique, new product, one I haven't seen before yet on the market. When you open the jar, you are met with a completely transparent jelly, which moves exactly like Jell-O in the tub. Very funny! There's a little scoop applicator which you can use to get some of the product out, and when you rub it onto your skin, it turns into a super fast absorbing gel, almost like water. This is supposed to be a hydrating gel that you can use as a base before make-up. It has a beautiful light texture, and feels very refreshing on your face and absorbs fast. I don't think it can replace a good moisturizer completely, especially if you have dry skin, but as far as primers go it's quite nice. I think I will have to try this out a bit more, I'm very intrigued!


Overall I think it's a very interesting and innovative collection, and aside from the troubles I had with the texture of the lipsticks, I'm really looking forward to using everything a bit more. Are there any pieces here that have caught your eye and that you might pick up?

For more information and online shop: Illamasqua.com

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Review: Illamasqua Generation Q Collection

Hello dear Readers!

Today I've got some bits and pieces from the Illamasqua Q (Fall/Winter 2012) collection. The collection slogan is "Where Beauty has no Age Limits" - one that I find very empowering. Generation Q is a celebration of beauty, regardless of age and restrictions. Beauty is not young or old, black or white, male or female, but includes everyone.

I absolutely love that they have used models from all different walks of life and of all age classes. Here are some backstage pictures from the shoot of a few of the models, as Creative Director Alex Box works her magic. I applaud Illamasqua for not photoshopping these gorgeous women half to death in the final promo pictures to magically get rid of all wrinkles!

Now on to the collection, which encompasses two eyeshadow palettes, two lipsticks, two lipglosses, two nailpolishes, two powder blushes, one liquid eyeliner, and one cream highlight product. Here are some of the products I have to show you.

Left to Right: Intense Lipgloss in Opulent, nailpolishes in Charisma and Creator, and Aurora Gleam (cream highlighter)

Gleam in Aurora

Aurora swatched

First up: Gleam. It's described as a lightweight compact highlighter, with an iridescent formula. I haven't played around with this too much but it feels a bit greasy. I'm not sure how well I will fare with this as I generally use shimmering powder highlighters, so this will be something different. I can see how it could add a wet look to the skin, which looks good on older skin, but it could also look a bit oily if you already have oily skin to begin with. To be honest, it's a bit underwhelming if you ask me.

  Charisma & Creator

Creator & Charisma

The polishes look absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to wear them! I've never been disappointed by an Illamasqua nail polish yet, and these look so wonderful for fall. Charisma has a beautiful raspberry-magenta shimmer, and Creator is black with a lot of silver glitter.

Opulent Intense Lipgloss

Above you can see a swatch of the Intense Lipgloss in Opulent. This is the one products where my immediate reaction was, "Oh HELL no!!" I have several Intense Lipglosses by Illamasqua and they are all that - lovely, intense glosses that apply like liquid lipsticks. This one has barely any color pay-off, the rainbow shimmer is barely discernible. This could be applied over another nude lipstick, but by itself it's a bit bland.

Now here's the real doozy - the packaging. Illamasqua have recently repackaged some of their products (I know of the nail polishes and the lipglosses) and wow, major downgrade! The bottle for the lipgloss looks and feels like a cheap lipgloss you might expect from the dollar store, and the brush head is just terrible. As you can see from the above picture, the fibers of the brush wand are spiky, stiff, plastic-feeling, and not uniform. It's an absolute pain to apply this gloss on the lips - to me, this is definitely not on the level of a department store lipgloss.

They have also repackaged the nail polishes. Because of the square bottle head, you used to be able to take off the top cap and re-align it so it's flush with the sides of the bottle when screwing closed. Now, you can't do that anymore, so you end up with a bunch of square heads that often won't align with the polish bottle. It's ugly and annoying for storing.

I really dislike these changes the brand has made and think it has downgraded the overall appearance and usability of the products. Illamasqua, please go back to the old packaging, or find a better bottle for your lipglosses. These wands are just awful!

In conclusion, I really like the polishes, am a bit underwhelmed with the Gleam, and completely dislike the lipgloss due to terrible packaging. The eyeshadow palettes look absolutely beautiful from what I have seen.

You can see the full collection on the Illamasqua Website. They also ship internationally.

Website: Illamasqua Generation Q

Will you be picking up any of the products? What do you think of their promo images and all-inclusive age campaign? Let me know in the comments!

Illamasqua Theatre of the Nameless collection

I'm sure some of you have seen the pictures for Illamasqua's Theatre of the Nameless Autumn/Winter 2011 collection already, if not, let's take a moment to drool...

Stunning! Again and again, Illamasqua's collections have promo pictures that just blow me away. The collection was inspired by the 1920s nightlife in Berlin, of dark sophisticated tones combined with dazzling iridescence for a modern twist.

Cream Pigment £17.00 in Androgen (Coral) and Depravity (Magenta)
Pure Pigment £15.50 in Zeitgeist (Dark Shimmer), Beguile (Light Shimmer) and Berber (Auburn Shimmer)
Precision Ink £17.00 in Havoc (Aubergine)
Nail Varnish £13.50 in Taint (Stone Brown), Kink (Bottle Green), Vice (Deep Cerise), and Faux Pas (Blue Violet)
Shimmer Blusher £16.50 in Ambition (Neutral) and Morale (Rosed Flush)
Lipgloss £13.00 in Intense Lipgloss Façade (Grey Pink), Belladonna (Deep Pink) and Sheer Lipgloss Violate (Dark Green Shimmer)
Lipstick £15.50 in Kontrol (Blue Violet)
False Eye Lashes £16.00 in Grandeur and Blackened Auburn Weimar


Here are some of the products I have swatched for you.

Blush in Ambition: Warm tawny pink shade with gold shimmer

Cream Pigment in Androgen: coral

Ambition (left) and Angrogen (right) swatched

Top to bottom: Facade, Violate, Belladonna

These lipglosses are so incredible. The Intense Lipglosses are more like liquid lipsticks due to their high pigmentation, and even though Violate is supposed to be sheer, it goes on very thick and intense. I absolutely love that they made a forest green lipgloss!! I could see Facade working really well as a nude tone for those with darker skin tones.

Pigments in Berber, Beguile, Zeitgeist

Berber swatched over Androgen Cream Pigment

The pigments are the hardest to photograph and my pictures probably don't do them justice. Berber is just incredible! A coppery red with silver and gold micro-sparkle, buttery smooth and intensely pigmented when swatched over a sticky base. Red eyeshadow isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if you like copper burnt tones, this is definitely one to check out.

Beguile I would describe more as a glitter rather than a regular pigment - it's quite sheer when applied, but has the most wondrous reflecting glitter in a multitude of colors - gold, turquoise and pink. This will look absolutely beautiful layered over darker colors, or even dabbed onto lipstick. I can't wait to use this more!

Zeitgeist is a matte black base with micro-shimmer in green, blue and magenta. This is probably my least favorite of the three pigments, simply because I prefer to use a pressed matte black eyeshadow when using black, but that's just down to personal taste.

Overall I think this is a quite unique collection with some unusual finishes and colors, mixed in with more run-of-the-mill shades. You can watch Alex Box in action as she creates the makeup looks for the promo shoot.

I also have the nailpolishes from this collection, but I will swatch those another day. ;)

Products available at http://www.illamasqua.com/

Illamasqua Toxic Nature Spring/Summer 2011 Collection

Today I've got some product swatches and pictures from the new Illamasqua collection - Toxic Nature. The promo images really caught my eye, looking almost plastic and doll like. Amazingly, this is all makeup, not digital wizardry! I am always stunned by the work of Alex Box. (As an aside, I've purchased and reviewed her makeup book here on my Youtube channel if you're interested to see more of her work.)

 

The collection includes cream pigments, lipsticks, lipglosses, a liquid eyeliner and nail polishes. I'll give you the liberty of checking out the whole collection, prices and what's coming out on the Illamasqua website here.

Here are some pictures and my first impressions of some of the products.

Above you see Atomic Lipstick, Torture Sheer Lipgloss, and Glister Precision Ink. My favorite of these three is definitely Atomic - this color is just stunning! An intense fuchsia cool pink with an ever so subtle blue pearl. This is so flattering for your teeth because it makes them look whiter! I'll definitely be rocking this color in the summer. Torture is a nice orange lipgloss leaning ever so slightly to the coral side, another great summer color. As a bonus, this lipgloss has a pleasant, fruity sweet taste.

From this set, I was not so impressed with the color choice of Glister Precision Ink. As I've demonstrated in a previous post here, the Precision Inks are amazingly long-lasting liquid eyeliners with a felt tip, so the staying power is great. But the color just didn't entice me - somehow I doubt I'm going to reach for this product as much. It just doesn't scream "summer" to me. I would have loved to see a purple, or a teal, or something like that.

 Illamasqua Cream Pigments (left to right)

Back row: Delerium, Hollow, Emerge

Front Row: Dab, Mould

These cream pigments remind me a little of the Makeup Forever Flash Palette, if you are familiar with that. They are water-resistant and have a matte finish, and can be used for for various things: blush, lipstain, eyeshadows, or even contouring. They are creamy but not overly so to the point of being slick and moving all over the place, which I think is a great improvement than some of the Liquid Metals I have tried from Illamasqua. I absolutely love these for using below eyeshadows, but I still apply something like Urban Decay Primer Potion underneath. I am really looking forward to using these more in the future, so far I have used Dab and Hollow the most, but am very anxious to combine Mould with an intense dark eye makeup. The colors are all quite wearable, whereas similar products from Kryolan or Makeup Forever are more bright and bold.

Left to Right: Hollow, Emerge, Delerium, Dab, Mould

All in all I think this is a very versatile collection. There are a few bright and intense pieces, and also some more subtle and neutral shades to cater to a variety of tastes. I also think it's great that some of the more neutral shades can definitely be worn into fall and winter as well - not that you can't wear bright pink lipstick in the winter too!

What do you think of this collection? Has anything peaked your interest?


Items were sent to me for review by Illamasqua.

January Favorites + a Haul!

My recent beauty products purchases:

Nars Lip Lacquer in Diablo - a candy apple red lip cream that can be applied lightly for a sheer finish, or layered for an opaque and bright finish. Really long lasting, doesn't feather easily even without a lipliner, but doesn't have a nice taste/scent.

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup in Classic Ivory - Many have been saying this is a dupe for the Nars Sheer Glow foundation, which is my favorite, but at a much more affordable price. I'm trying this out to see if it is indeed a dupe; I have worn it a few times already and at this point I don't think it's comparable - but more on that in the future in a more in-depth review.

My favorites for this past month:

La Roche Posay Toleriane Riche face cream - Perfect for sensitive, dry skin. Paraben, mineral oil and perfume free. The whole Toleriane line from Roche Posay is perfect for people with skin sensitivities or irritations. This cream has helped to prevent the severe dry patches I often get in the wintertime. Available at pharmacies and apothecaries.

Blistex lip balm - No-nonsense hydration for irritated, dry lips. This contains menthol and usually I react negatively to that, but the menthol content is very low so it's all right. Inexpensive but does it's job amazingly well.

Catrice Heidi Plum eyeshadow - A beautiful dusty grey-purple matte eyeshadow. Great pigmentation, very inexpensive, great lasting power and available at European drugstores. This looks wonderful in the crease, paired with other colors.

Illamasqua products mentioned:

Sanger lipstick - a bright, firetruck engine red, matte finish
Throb nailpolish - bright red cream finish
Load nailpolish - a creamy vanilla custard shade, cream finish and opaque in 2 coats
Scorn nailpolish- semi-matte black polish

Nailpolish I'm wearing in this video:
Maybelline Blue Sapphire

Link to my video here

Illamasqua Nail Quills competition

Illamasqua and MissChievous.tv are teaming up to give away one pair of their hot new nail quills. If you haven't seen these already, check out this picture of me wearing them, with Illamasqua Scorn nailpolish on my other fingers.

These are handmade, limited edition glue on nail talons with a a silver foil tip, designed by Mike Pocock. They also come packaged and presented in a beautiful jewelry box, which is great for storage in between use.

Head over to Illamasqua's website and enter to win in the competition, so that you too might have the chance to try these out! The contest is open worldwide.

http://www.illamasqua.com/missc/

Now my thoughts on these:

My first impression was great, they look really hot on the nails, reminiscent of the vampire Armand in Interview with the Vampire. Illamasqua Scorn semi-matte nail varnish is the perfect shade to wear with these at it looks exactly like the black part of the nail quills. (You could also wear them with other colors of course, but the nail quills will remain black.)

There are a few things I wanted to mention though. Judging from the pictures on the website, I assumed that the tip was made of solid metal, like a real quill, attached to the false nail. Unfortunately, this was not the case; the silver part of the quills is just a silver foil that has been cut to size and wrapped around the tip. This worries me because I wonder how long such material will actually keep its shape before wear and tear, or before it somehow comes undone.

The other issue I had with these is that according to the Illamasqua instructional video on how to apply and remove them, it was recommended to dribble some acetone-free remover down the side of the nail quill, wedging it with a wood stick. I did this just as in the video, only to realize afterwards while cleaning them from the inside that the remover actually stained and removed some of the color from the top of the quills! Now the silver foil of my quills has some small but noticeable chemical stains on it, and the black varnish has dent marks, and has even been removed completely on some edges. Luckily, Scorn is a perfect match, so I will try to repaint the black to make them look nice again. But that was a big surprise that the recommended method of removal actually caused damage to the quills. I don't know if they just used nail varnish to paint the false nail, maybe they should have used some sort of lacquer or paint that is completely resistant to remover? I guess I will have to be more careful next time.

But overall, these are a really unique and fun nail accessory that are sure to be a hit with a lot of people, especially those that follow various sub-culture trends. At £35 GBP they are a pricey bit of fun, but then again, anything handmade with a limited amount of production is bound to have its price.

Illamasqua Precision Ink Liners

Today I've got a review of the new Illamasqua Precision Ink Liners (£16.50) of which there are currently two colors available: Alchemy (gold glitter liner) and Abyss (jet black). They are liquid eyeliners with a felt tip that allow for precise application.

(Left: Alchemy, Right: Abyss)

Alchemy is quite interesting because it's not a typical glitter liner, which is often a clear gel with chunky glitter particles contained therein as I have seen from other brands. Rather, it seems to be a lot of micro-glitter so densely suspended in the liquid that it doesn't separate from glitter particle to the gel. Hard to explain but see what I mean from the picture below.

I decided to compare the Illamasqua liners to some budget alternatives from the drugstore. Below you can see the Illamasqua liners on the right hand side, on the left are two similar products from other brands.

(From left to right: Essence glitter liner in Angel's Eyes, L'Oreal Super Liner in Carbon Gloss, Illamasqua Alchemy, Illamasqua Abyss)

The Essence liner is one of those liners I talked about where the chunky glitter particles are suspensed in clear gel that forms the liner, I had to apply several coats of it to get the color payoff on this picture, whereas Illamasqua's Alchemy (and all other liners seen here) is one stroke.

But where these liners really shine is their longevity in staying power. The Illamasqua Precision Inks just do not fade, and last until the moment you decide to remove them with an oil-based makeup remover. I was told by Illamasqua that the liner contains a special type of adherent that behaves a little bit like cosmetic glue that helps the product to literally stick on, but doesn't contain latex. I noticed this especially with Alchemy. In the picture below, you'll see how all these liners behave after running cold water over them and a little bit of smudging with a finger.

The Essence and L'Oreal liners are well on their way to rubbing off, whereas the Illasmasqua liners still look flawless. In the final picture, I've added more water and rubbed a lot with my fingers.

The Essence and L'Oreal liners have completely rubbed off, and the Illamasqua liners have taken some damage, but are still going pretty strong.

Conclusion:

Hands down, these are the most long-lasting liquid liners I've ever used. The special adherents make for a very strong protective barrier against smudging and bleeding. The only down-side is that removal of these liners does take a little bit longer than conventional liquid liners. You must use an oil-based eye makeup remover doused on a cotton pad to take these off, and avoid scrubbing back and forth. (Baby oil will work in a pinch too.) I found it best to let the cotton pad with the remover sink into the product for a few seconds, then gently dabbing off. Especially with Alchemy, you might see some clear residue that takes a bit longer to remove. I also love the fact that a mixing ball has been added to the product bottle, which makes it much easier to shake up the product before applying.

I'm hoping that Illamasqua comes out with more of these liners, especially in the glitter variety, as Alchemy is really superb. It's easy to use, very opaque in one swipe, and the glitter really stays put. I would love to see these in colors like teal, silver, copper, and purple! I would recommend these liners to people who love wearing the dramatic winged liner and want it to really last all day, or suffer from watery eyes.

Illamasqua Body Electrics Review & Swatches

I've received some samples of the Illamasqua Body Electrics Spring/Summer 2010 collection so I thought I'd show you what's coming up. Click on the pictures for full size.

L to R: Bronzer in Burnish, Bronzer in Writhe, 4-Colour Liquid Metal Palette

Clockwise from top left: Enrapture, Surge, Solstice, Phenomena £29.50

Top to bottom: Surge, Enrapture, Phenomena, Solstice

Bronzer in Writhe £20

Bronzer in Burnish £20

Top to bottom: Burnish, Writhe

Nail Varnish in Jo'Mina £13

L to R: Illamasqua Jo'Mina, Illamasqua Wink, OPI Done Out In Deco, China Glaze Grape Pop

4-Colour Liquid Metal Palette (£29.50)

This is the product I was most intrigued about since I've never tried out the liquid metals from Illamasqua before. I would characterize these as cream eyeshadows or cream highlighters. The colours are really pretty, Surge and Enrapture being my favorites. Surge I'd describe as a tarnished silver olive, Enrapture a coppery rust, Phenomena a silver, and Solstice a tarnished gold shade. I was a bit surprised at their texture, they are very slick and to get a true colour payoff as you see in the pan, you need a generous application. The problem, however, is that because they are rather slippery, if you apply too much product especially on your eyelids, they crease. I wouldn't recommend these to people who have oily eyelids, and I wish the texture was a bit drier and more intensely pigmented. I have to admit I was a little disappointed with this product.

Bronzers in Writhe and Burnish (£20)

I was provided with both bronzers in the collection and found the colours of these are fairly similar. Both are golden tones with a satin shimmery finish. Note that these are not just spray overlays, the product is shimmery throughout, but does not contain glitter particles, a plus point to me. Writhe has a noticeable red undertone, whereas Burnish has more of a golden-tan undertone. These bronzers are very pigmented so if you have fair skin like myself, a light hand and a stippling brush is required. These would work well on darker skintones as well.

Nail Varnish in Jo'Mina (£13)

I haven't applied this to my nails yet (will do so tonight) so I cannot comment on application yet. But the colour I would describe as a bright medium purple with a slightly red undertone. The picture is not entirely colour accurate, purple seems impossible for me to photograph. You can see it in comparison to some other purple nail polishes I own, so far I don't know a dupe that is comparable in colour. As you can see, it is quite a lot brighter than Wink, which Illamsqua released with their spring nail varnish collection. You can see a swatch of Wink here.

You can check out the rest of the Body Electrics collection on Illamasqua's website. Illamasqua products are also available at Sephora.com in the USA, as well as various other store locations around the world.

Keep on the lookout for future videos using these products! I filmed one already using one of the bronzers and the liquid metal palette.